The XDefiant training area is a strong reminder that you are actually playing a Ubisoft game. In one corner of this rejected convention center are Arcade machines for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Just Dance and Riders Republic. Near the reception, a large screen shows various protagonists Of Assassin’s Creed striking a Pose, while the short corridor leading to the action route is adorned with a giant Statue of a rabbit with wide eyes and an open mouth. All this gives the impression that XDefiant is a celebration of Ubisoft’s history, but that’s only half the story. Instead, it’s a celebration of Ubisoft games that mostly revolve around guns.
Xdefiant feels like a homage and, as such, offers nothing that we have never seen in the competitive marksman space. It’s a free Generic marksman that mixes ingredients from games like Call of Duty and Overwatch to create an all-too-familiar broth. Being wildly unoriginal is not a bad thing if the formula works, and in this matter, it does for the most part. But some of his disparate ideas don’t quite fit, and this approach isn’t enough to stand out in a crowded striking market, especially when it gives such a continuous feeling of déjà Vu.
In each of XDefiant’s recognizable game types, two teams of six players compete against each other. The action here is grounded, forgoing much of the fluid traversal present in many modern marksmans by limiting their movement possibilities and limiting where they can climb. The action is fast and nervous, characterized by a short finish time and quick respawns; it is just as solid as CoD around with a smaller set of tools and a narrower focus on different weapons.
However, some factions are more popular than others, which somewhat undermines the entire system. In my experience, players using Medic-based Libertad are rare, with Echelon players widely used in just about every game. It depends on the strength and versatility of each ability. While most factions have team-oriented or more situational abilities, squads have the power to see enemies through walls, which is constantly beneficial. There is no downside to using it, so it is not surprising that most players do it. But this creates an imbalance in which the other factions feel rather useless.
The biggest problem with the abilities, however, is xdefiant’s style conflict. It wants to be both a fast-paced marksman and a class-based tactical marksman, but the former trumps the latter. When the strikings are over in a matter of seconds, there is no place to use an ability when a weapon is faster and more effective and you are not smaked, as could be the matter when you are preparing to launch a drone. Some modes make certain abilitys more viable than others, such as releasing the ghost’s deployable shield when defending a conquest zone. But even then, the maps are based on a combination of circular and three-way design principles that ensure that enemies always approach you from several directions with different flanking possibilities. Again, this transafters into dramatic, intense and quick experiences, but it is not conducive to using anything other than your firearm in most situations.
There are five types of games on sale, and each is of the well-known objective variety. The Escort mode is taken directly from Overwatch and instructs one team to guide a payload from one side of the map to the other, while the other team tries to stop them in their tracks. There is also Domination, where the two teams compete for control of three capture points, while Occupy has a single point that regularly changes its location throughout the game. This emphasis on conquest point modes eats away at the variety of the game and it doesn’t take long for the replay to take hold. It is also a bit disappointing that there is not more innovation here, as none of the modes offer something that we have not yet seen.
In addition to being well designed, the maps are at least visually appealing – each inspired by the same games as the four factions. Dumbo strikes a piece of snowy Manhattan straight out of the Division, mixing rejected shops with wide streets and overturned Yellow Taxis. Nudleplex is the colorful Silicon Valley campus of Watch Dogs 2, with offices connected by children’s play slides and a central fountain, while Echelon’s headquarters take place in an elegant high-tech office with crawling vents and a spacious lobby for theatrical fireactions.
Based on the strength of its maps and excellent striking mechanics, XDefiant enters the free-to-play striking zone in a competent form. Some of his balance issues will hopefully be resolved soon, but even then, overpowered snipers are a relatively minor issue compared to his clunky mishmash of styles. The pace of the action is at odds with its class-based approach and almost completely undermines its focus on the unique abilities of the characters. The action is fun enough that it is still superbly playable, and the basics of XDefiant are ready to be improved. However, the competition is fierce and there are superior options that are not as contradictory.